Okay, so your website looks spectacularly awesome, but because it has not been changed in a few years, now you have noticed that your competition’s websites are out ranking yours. This article will show you how to promote your website so that it will rank much better in search results in the near future.
Have you ever asked yourself, “does my website need a blog?”
Blogging has been around for well over 20 years now and blogging is no longer only for those who are experts in their field of training or their chosen niche.
According to some estimates there are well over 400 million blogs online right now… and, as of two years ago, well over 74% of companies claimed that content marketing (blogging) increased their leads in quantity as well as quality. (Source: http://www.curata.com/resources/ebooks/2016-CMStaffing-Tactics-Study)
Now, I could go on and on and on about the number of owners that have jumped into blogging for their businesses, but knowing others have already saturated the search engines with this information, I would sooner move on to discuss the benefits of blogging and how you can promote your website by simply adding a blog.
First off, never ever purchase any sort of software that simply scraps information off other’s blogs and then spins it for you. Google will discover you doing this if you do, and then you will not only lose your website ranking but you could get your website de-indexed due to a major violation.
Copying other’s information is considered a no-no… and, using other’s image could even get you slapped with a lawsuit.
When blogging first started it was used more like an online diary for many. However, now blogging has developed into a way of sharing what you have learned with others.
By adding a blog to your business website, you will need to add posts (or articles) to your website on a regular basis, making sure that your content is relevant to your business.
In other words, if your business is a local bakery, you would not want to offer advice on makeup on your bakery business website blog, right?
When you share unique, useful information on your blog with your website visitors, there is a pretty good chance that your website visitors will share your information with their family and/or friends. And, when that happens you could virtually gain a new lead as in a potential customer, simply because of the quality of your content proving your expertise in your given niche or type of business.
Due to the fact that now more and more local business owners are adding a blog to their website in order to gain new leads, you will find your competition’s sites ranking higher and higher in search results, literally pushing your website down in the rankings… possibly even pushing your website off to page 3 search results for your given keywords, if you don’t act on this now.
And, I’m sure you realize what happens with regards to your website’s popularity for your given business if your website gets buried to page 3 Google search results, right?
The age of information has arrived, so if your business website is slowly sliding lower in search results simply adding a blog to your website may help your website move back up in those search results. However, you need to be offering quality and unique content on your blog posts or you will be wasting your time. Simply regurgitating other’s information won’t cut it… if it ever did.
Once you start adding great content to your blog, your website literally could establish you as an authority, and validate you as an expert in your given niche. This alone could help you gain new leads.
Some business owners have asked me how often they should be adding posts to their blog, and years ago my answer was, “once every 3 to 4 months”. However, now it has become more important than ever to post a lot more frequently.
Starting a new blog, I would definitely recommend you add one new post every week at the start… but again, ONLY if your post offers valuable information. Otherwise you would be wasting your time and effort.
As for how long a post should be… my response to that is simply this: write until you can no longer offer any more information on your given topic and you will have enough words to make a difference.
Some writers have stated that company blogs now range in the neighbourhood of 750 to 1000 words per post. While others say we need to be writing posts over 2000 words.
As far as I have seen in my Google searches is that the posts with the most, all inclusive and distinctive content, whether 350 words or 2000 words, rank the highest on Google’s page 1 result.
As long as your business offers your customers a resolution for their problem(s), you can write about those resolves in your blog posts. The more problems you can solve for your readers, the more posts you will be able to write content for by offering a solution to each of those problems.
Now, I do not want you only taking my word for whether your website needs a blog or not, so I am more than willing for you to learn what four experts in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) have stated in the way of advice on how to promote your website.
Google Partner FirstPlaceMarketing.com states the following:
Then there is LifeHack.org that offers 10 reasons why you need a blog, of which I’ll show you their second one below:
This statement was made by Mike Kappel at Entrepreneur.com and is as follows:
And then there is what Matt Secrist at SearchEngineJournal.com has to say:
My website clients are always informed as to the importance of blogging, and many claim they are too shy on time to blog. If your business is keeping you that occupied that you have no time to spare then your business is obviously booming… or family issues are keeping you busy during your off hours.
If that is your case, then know this…
There are content marketers available for those who find they are too busy to write, but I will need to let you in on a little secret… even if you do hire a writer, you will need to be prepared to pay at least $100 (and, I am speaking with regards to Canadian funds here) for a 1000 word post IF you want a well written, exclusive article that provides a resolution to a problem that your business can fix.
However, even after paying that sum of money to your chosen writer, you will still need to read over the articles and to be sure what is stated within those articles you hire to have written, in order to make sure the articles state:
1.) facts not legends …and provide proof of those facts.
2.) really does answer an issue your business can resolve.
3.) makes you look like an authority in your business.
4.) contain your chosen keywords.
If you are adding a blog to your website, there are blogging blunders you will want to avoid so that your website really can stand out from your competition’s website.
Remember too, to NEVER EVER use images for your posts that you find in a Google search. That is how so many new website owners were slapped (and some still are!) with law suits from a well known American law firm who literally scouts the internet regularly for ANY infringements on images used by any website owner, no matter their country of origin.
As one lawyer put it… just because they are an American law firm does not mean then cannot put you out of business just because you are a Canadian. They will sue anyone in any country where they know they will make a huge profit from their law suit.
If you purchase the right use of image from ANY photo stock website, PLEASE be sure you READ, understand and comply with their small print. That law firm I spoke of, well, they own several of those websites, so you will want to make sure you comply with their policies as to the use of the images sold through their website… or anyone else’s.
However, if you are looking for a photograph stock website that offers you personal attention should you not understand their policies, I can recommend only one, and that is… DreamsTime.com!
I truly hope this has answered your question “does my website need a blog”, because by now you should understand completely the need for your website to include a blog with articles offering helpful hints for solving issues in your given niche.
Offer tips where your readers will be so impressed with your solution(s) that they will share your article’s address (URLs) with their family and friends.
This could gain you the much needed authority in your niche to drive more leads to your business.
